Thomas Tjapaltjarri

Thomas Tjapaltjarri

Thomas Tjapaltjarri Biography

Thomas was born around 1964 in the Gibson Desert in Western Australia. Thomas lived a traditional nomadic life, moving around his country, hunting and gathering in order to survive off the land.
In 1984 Thomas was one of a group of nine that made headlines when they walked out of the desert and made contact with the ‘modern’ world for the first time. Thomas was quick to adopt many new practices, and this included creating art with ‘modern’ materials such as acrylic paint and canvas.
In his works, Thomas depicts the traditional Dreaming stories from his country. These mostly concern the Tingari Cycle. This story concerns the paths the Tingari ancestors took as they moved through the country shaping and creating sacred sites.
Thomas’s works are generally composed of free flowing geometric shapes in a restricted palette of traditional tones such as white, browns, oranges and reds. These works show Thomas’s high level of skill with modern materials and also reflect his traditional early life.
Thomas’s works have been widely exhibited and feature in a number of private and public collections in both Australia and overseas.